Chapter 8 — The School Year
From that day onward, Dracula never again went to the Hogwarts Great Hall to eat.
Although, as the oldest surviving vampire, Dracula did not possess the weaknesses of lesser vampires—he was immune to sunlight, silver, and garlic—the instinctive aversion toward such things was still impossible to erase.
Fortunately, back in 1811, the Minister for Magic at the time, Grogan Stump, had established a new definition of the term "being." Goblins, vampires, hags, giants, house-elves, veela, and werewolves in human form were all classified under the category of "beings."
As a result, over the past century, foods and drinks suited to the tastes of magical creatures such as goblins and vampires had gradually flourished.
Since awakening, Dracula had discovered that the wizarding world now offered many beverages and foods specifically designed for vampires. There were blood-flavored lollipops from Honeydukes, fresh-blood ice cream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, and all kinds of blood-based delicacies.
And precisely because of these far more appealing options, he had absolutely no desire to go to the Great Hall and look at dishes like Mao Xue Wang.
During the month before the school year began, Dracula threw all the preparation work—lesson plans and the like—onto his teaching assistant, Quirrell. As for himself, he spent the time wandering across the entirety of Britain in search of interesting things to do.
As for the sense of responsibility expected from a professor, Dracula probably wasn't going to develop that anytime soon…
…
Before anyone noticed, September 1st arrived.
It was the day Hogwarts reopened.
The returning students jumped down from the Thestral-drawn carriages, walked around the square academic buildings of Hogwarts Castle, and gradually made their way to the magnificent Great Hall in the southwest.
Inside the hall were four long tables stretching across the room. Thousands of candles floated in midair above them, illuminating the hall brilliantly. The tables were set with gleaming golden plates and tall goblets. At the front of the hall stood a raised platform with another long table reserved for the professors.
"Lee, want to make a bet with us?"
Beside the Gryffindor table, two red-haired boys who looked exactly alike leaned together with their arms slung over each other's shoulders, speaking mysteriously to the dark-skinned boy beside them.
"We're not betting on anything else—just how long this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor will last!" one of the boys, George, said, waggling his eyebrows.
"I'm not betting with you two. You're both swindlers!" The dark-skinned boy, Lee Jordan, turned his head away, clearly unwilling to deal with them.
"Hey! Don't be like that, brother!" The other red-haired boy, Fred, wrapped an arm around Jordan's shoulder and dragged him back. "At least hear our terms first. We bet the new professor will only last six months!"
Lee Jordan's eyes widened. Against his dark skin, the whites of his eyes looked like two glowing bulbs floating in the air.
"Are you serious?" he exclaimed in disbelief. "Fine then—I'll take the bet. I say nine months!"
"You're definitely going to lose. Six months is such a short time—even if they put a dog in that position, it could last that long!"
Jordan confidently slapped a gold Galleon down onto the table.
Fred and George exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.
They had already decided that if the professor still hadn't left after six months, they would lend a helping hand to ensure that this new professor stepped down!
Just as the twins had begun thinking about how they would spend the gold coin they were about to win, a slender, pale hand suddenly reached over and placed a thick stack of Galleons beside Jordan's single coin.
Fred and George: "!!!"
The twins swore on Merlin's beard that they had never seen so many Galleons in their entire lives.
They turned in shock to look at the owner of the hand and saw a silver-haired wizard standing behind them, a playful smile on his lips.
"I bet twenty Galleons that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor won't leave his post."
Hearing Dracula's words, Fred and George were instantly overjoyed.
Everyone knew that no Defense Against the Dark Arts professor ever stayed in the job—just like there was no such thing as a man who wasn't fond of women! They had definitely won this time!
"Deal! No taking it back!" they said in unison.
The two slapped hands and jumped around excitedly in the Great Hall, as if those twenty-odd Galleons were already theirs.
However, as they continued hopping about, Fred and George suddenly noticed that the atmosphere around them had become strangely quiet. Nearby, Lee Jordan was desperately signaling at them with his eyes—but because his dark skin made the movement less noticeable, the twins completely failed to see it…
"Ahem!"
A stern cough sounded beside the twins.
They slowly turned their heads and saw Professor McGonagall standing next to them, her lips pressed into a thin line.
"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley—how dare you gamble openly during the opening ceremony, and using a professor as the subject of the bet!" Professor McGonagall's cheeks flushed red with anger. Her hands clenched into fists as she trembled with rage at the two troublemakers.
Only then did the twins realize that the Great Hall had filled up at some point, and they were the only ones still bouncing around as if no one else existed.
On the raised professors' platform, only two seats remained empty. One was the seat beside the smiling Dumbledore, belonging to Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall.
That meant the other empty seat was obvious—it belonged to the silver-haired wizard who had just made the bet with them.
Under the circumstances, anyone with half a brain could figure out that he was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!
George and Fred stared in shock, their eyes wide as they looked stiffly at Dracula, who still wore that amused smile.
"P-Professor… if we say we didn't mean it, would you believe us?" George asked weakly.
"We just saw Lee looking a little unhappy and wanted to cheer him up," Fred added with a cheeky grin.
Lee Jordan, who had been pretending to be a quail sitting quietly beside them, immediately whipped his head around in disbelief when he heard that.
"Quiet, Weasley!" Professor McGonagall snapped, pushing the two of them back into their seats at the Gryffindor table. "Come to my office after the welcome feast. You'll have plenty of detention to keep you busy for the next month!"
With that, she turned and left the Great Hall without another word, heading toward the entrance courtyard to greet the new students.
Dracula, meanwhile, glanced at the twins with interest before letting out a soft chuckle and walking toward his seat.
"Professor, your Galleons—"
Fred tried to bring up the matter of the twenty Galleons with Dracula, but Lee Jordan quickly covered his mouth before he could finish, taking the opportunity to get a bit of revenge for Fred throwing him under the bus earlier.
George soon joined the scuffle, and the three of them twisted together like a braided rope.
But they separated almost immediately and sat up straight at the table.
Because Professor McGonagall had returned—bringing with her a group of nervous new students.